The nation last week recorded 338 new cases of severe flu with complications, 15 of which resulted in death, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Since July last year, 1,109 severe flu cases have been reported in Taiwan, and 84 of them have been fatal, the agency said.
The CDC said that in 95 percent of the cases, the patients had not been vaccinated against the flu.
During the three-day 228 Memorial Day weekend, more than 12,000 people sought medical attention for the flu, the agency said.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center director Liu Ting-ping (劉定萍) said the influenza epidemic in Taiwan has been on the wane after peaking on Feb. 9.
The number of severe flu cases peaked on Feb. 22, but is also now on the decline, Liu said.
The H1N1 influenza A strain remains the most prevalent variant of the flu virus this year, she said.
Separately, experts at a meeting said that there was no need to set national guidelines for suspending classes in situations where influenza is affecting schools.
There is no evidence that suspending classes would help contain the flu epidemic, which is already on the wane, agency Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.
Furthermore, most of the severe flu cases and deaths have been in the over-50 age group, rather than among children, he said.
Some studies showed that suspending classes would increase schoolchildren’s contact with their communities and families, which could result in a 27 percent spike in the incidence of the flu, Chou said.
As of Saturday last week, about 71 classes in 50 schools nationwide had implemented suspensions of classes due to cases of influenza, statistics from the Ministry of Education showed.
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